What the heck are all these iron/ceramic/poultry DM and NPC competitions?

[RangerWickett]

I see them announced a lot, and I used to always clump them into the same category as Iron Man competitions, to see who is more hardcore, tough, etc. I didn't care about it. But there are so many competitions, I wonder if maybe I'm missing out on some hot Pay-Per-View action.

So what are these things?

 

[der_kluge]

I don't follow most of them, but I do know that Ceramic DM is something Alsih20 devised.

Essentially, he picks several pictures out at random, and the author has to take said pictures and integrate them into a story or module. The pictures can be really odd at times. So, the results can be interesting. He pairs two people against each other into a sort of bracketed playoff, finding new pictures for each tier, until a winner is announced.

I admit that I don't follow the others, but I'm sure their respective creators can speak to them.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Poultry DM? Drat, missed one. I wonder when they're going to announce the next Poultry DM competition, it sounds interesting...



Seriously, they're contests. In Iron DM, there are 8 contestents. They are paired off in 1 on 1 competetion for three rounds, resulting in an ultimate winner. The game is that the judge presents a series of unrelated items, spells, D&D-type things, and abstract concepts, generally 6 or 7 "ingredients" in all. The contestents have to take these ingredients and construct a coherent adventure. Each ingredient has to play a major role in the adventure to the point where, were it removed, the adventure would no longer make sense.

The catch: From the moment the ingredients are posted, you have only 24 hours to construct your adventure. A minute late disqualifies you. Editing your post disqualifies you.

The judging is harsh - that's half the fun. Like Simon Cowel judging singers except interesting. The adventures are torn to shreds, every detail being nitpicked into oblivian.

There is one Iron DM competion per season of the year and one for the Holidays. The previous winner is guaranteed a place in the next competition. Only one reigning Iron DM exists at any given time.

 

[ConnorSB]

The idea is based on those Iron Chef competitions, right?

 

[MerakSpielman]

I don't follow most of them, but I do know that Ceramic DM is something Alsih20 devised.

Essentially, he picks several pictures out at random, and the author has to take said pictures and integrate them into a story or module. The pictures can be really odd at times. So, the results can be interesting. He pairs two people against each other into a sort of bracketed playoff, finding new pictures for each tier, until a winner is announced.

I don't follow Ceramic DM much, but the name itself is a pun. It both represent a less hard-core game than Iron DM (ceramic being less hard than iron) and alish2o is a potter - so he deals with ceramics. I believe "alish2o" is the chemical composition of clay.

Sometimes an Iron NPC competition will start up. Similar to Iron DM, except instead of constructing a story, you use the ingredients to construct an interesting individual, with coherent history, personality, etc..., where each ingredient is a major factor of his/her life.

 

[RangerWickett]

I know the joke, yeah.

 

[Nifft]

The idea is based on those Iron Chef competitions, right?

Yes. Take a look at the previous IronNPC(tm) competition:

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40730

-- N

 

[Maldur]

Ceramic is indeed similar to iron dm, excet for the use of pictures, and we except any story/adventure/poem, limeric,/ etc . As long as they feature all the pictures.

And the stories are GREAT check out piratecats entry in the second round of the running competition: here!

 

[Hypersmurf]

check out piratecats entry in the second round of the running competition here!

...!

Can't... breathe...!

-Hyp.

 

[alsih2o]

I see them announced a lot, and I used to always clump them into the same category as Iron Man competitions, to see who is more hardcore, tough, etc. I didn't care about it. But there are so many competitions, I wonder if maybe I'm missing out on some hot Pay-Per-View action.

So what are these things?

have you tried reading the first page of one?